Stefan Banach (1892–1945) was amongst the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century and the greatest that Poland has produced. Born in Krakow, he studied in Lvov, graduating in 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I. He returned to Krakow where, by chance, he met another mathematician, Hugo Steinhaus who was already well-known. … Continue reading The Birth of Functional Analysis
Month: February 2015
MGP: Tracing our Mathematical Ancestry
There is great public interest in genealogy. Many of us live in hope of identifying some illustrious forebear, or enjoy the frisson of having a notorious murderer somewhere in our family tree. Academic genealogies can also be traced: see this week’s That’s Maths column in The Irish Times (TM062, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com). … Continue reading MGP: Tracing our Mathematical Ancestry
The Klein 4-Group
What is the common factor linking book-flips, solitaire, twelve-tone music and the solution of quartic equations? Answer: $latex {K_4}&fg=000000$. Symmetries of a Book --- or a Brick Take a book, place it on the table and draw a rectangle around it. How many ways can the book fit into the rectangle? Clearly, once any … Continue reading The Klein 4-Group
Perelman’s Theorem: Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
This week’s That’s Maths column in The Irish Times (TM061, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com) is about the remarkable mathematician Grisha Perelman and his proof of a one-hundred year old conjecture. Topology During the twentieth century topology emerged as one of the pillars of mathematics, alongside algebra and analysis. Geometers consider lengths, angles and … Continue reading Perelman’s Theorem: Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
ThatsMaths 